Needed engine rebuild at 22000 miles due to oil starvation. (£4000), window assembly broke meaning the glass slid down into the door and nearly broke, wobbly drivers seat. Needed new brake discs and pads, rattly exhaust, eats tyres every 4k road miles at £900 a set.
An S1 Exige... When running right they are good cars. You need to be on windy roads and keeping the revs over 6000rpm to fully enjoy the cars performance. Looks, sounds and feels like a racecar on the road and gets loooads of attention.
But... expensive parts and servicing. Needs constant pampering and you are always paranoid something is about to go pop so you can never feel safe thrashing the car. Bunnyhops from cold until she's warm.
Nice review.
I always wanted an Exige, but never trusted the K-series engine in VHPD guise. This version of the K-series was not only developed without any consultation with the original engine design team at Rover, but apparently turned out to be so far out of factory tolerances that Rover publicly distanced themselves from it after they got their hands on one. I have also yet to hear of any VHPD K-series that has done more than 30,000 miles without total failure or major surgery.
Such a shame, as the S1 Exige is a peach of a car.
That was a very superficial review. All the "problems" the author listed are either a result of poor maintenance or little knowledge on the car. Cars need their oil changed. If you don't change the oil then the engine will have to be replaced. Duh. Also, the tires that come on the car stock are racing tires. All racing tires wear our much faster then normal driving tires. They are designed to grip, not last.
The build quality of the Lotus cars is exceptional. But it is a drivers car. This is not a car one would buy to drive to work everyday. It's designed to beat supercars costing many times more.
No, I have a lotus exige S and it does break down a lot! The car is not expensive, but they screw in another way! But still, it's a F1 on the roads and that's what make the car fun!
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